Following is information for those of you interested in attending tomorrow’s oral arguments before the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Our office is arguing two sentencing appeals tomorrow: Morales-Alonso and Beeman. Both cases are about whether convictions under Georgia’s aggravated assault statute can be classified as crimes of violence. The arguments will be somewhat technical. However, you should still be able to enjoy watching the advocates defend their positions in front of the highest court in Atlanta. If you are interested in attending, please read the summary below and get supervisory approval.
AGAIN, YOU MUST GET SUPERVISORY APPROVAL BEFORE ATTENDING AND EMAIL ME A CONFIRMING EMAIL THAT YOU ARE PLANNING TO ATTEND AND THAT YOU HAVE RECEIVED SUPERVISORY APPROVAL.
Location: 56 Forsyth Street, Atlanta, Georgia 30303. Arguments take place on the third floor.
Time: You will need to be there no later than 8:45am.
Each case is allotted thirty minutes. One starts at 9:00am and the other at 9:30am. You will be done no later than 10:10am.
Please be aware that there is a movie set filming near the Court and leave extra time to get there. The nearest Marta stations are Peachtree Center and Five Points.
The Morales-Alonso case (argued by Colin Garrett from our office) concerns a 63 month sentence imposed for illegal reentry after deportation. The sentence was enhanced under the federal sentencing guidelines based upon an aggravated assault conviction which the district court found was a “crime of violence.” In order for a Georgia aggravated assault conviction to be considered a crime of violence under the guidelines, the Court must find that Georgia’s definition of aggravated assault requires an element of force or that it is similar to a generic definition of aggravated assault which has been defined by the United States Supreme Court. If the defendant’s aggravated assault conviction is not classified as a crime of violence, then the sentence that he would receive would be substantially lower than 63 months.
The Beeman case (argued by Matt Dodge from our office) also turns on whether a conviction under Georgia’s aggravated assault statute should be characterized as a crime of violence. Beeman was convicted of being a felon in possession of a firearm. He received a 15 year sentence under a statute known as the Armed Career Criminal Act. Under this Act, if a person has three prior offenses of a certain character, their sentence goes from somewhere below ten years to 15 years or more and up to life. After Mr. Beeman was sentenced, the Supreme Court decided a case which would have called into question his fifteen year sentence. He is seeking to be resentenced to below ten years. Again, the relevant statute at issue is Aggravated Assault under Georgia law.
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